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Robert Connrad as James West |
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Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon |
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Robert Connrad as James West |
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Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon |
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The Wild Wild West
In September of 1965, a new television show hit the air on Friday nights on CBS, and in the process confused those who attempted easy catagorization. Was it a Western? Was it a spy thriller? Perhaps it was a SciFi fantasy show? The Wild Wild West had elements of all three. Set in the 1870's, James West and his sidekick Artemus Gordon worked for the United States Secret Service, and it was their duty to keep the country safe from a large assortment of evil geniuses and their wicked schemes. Blending elements from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., James Bond, and the ever popular western, our two heroes rode the rails in a private train fighting many a bad guy.
Interestingly, The Wild Wild West was not cancelled due to ratings. Dr. Frank Stanton, then President of CBS, ordered the program off the air in 1970 due to his pledge to Congress to reduce television violence. In a recent interview (aired on TNT) Robert Conrad states that this was probably a good thing, for the rigors of the stunts had caused many injuries, and perhaps it was better to quit while everybody was mostly still healthy.
